Eden Doesn't Do Gardens (f/f)

[Via]

Oh, an update! Adorable and entertaining as always. Keep up the fantastic work, Galaxy.

[cherrypink]

Really enjoying this - great work!

[poiub]

Aw :~)

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

Adorable amazing writing <3<3

[Salamander]

This is really lovely, sweet and tender. There should be more f/f like this

[ticklesmuhnosee]

Ohh gosh this is so perfect!

[snzynosey]

This is great can't wait for next part

[zneeze]

Finally got around to catching up on this fic, and I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so glad I did, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I'm rarely flustered like this from anything, particularly sneeze fiction, but this is truly one of the best f/f stories I've ever read. I don't remember if I've ever read any of your other fics, Galaxy, but just wow, I love this one. I love Eden, I love Gemma. I wish I had a Professor Anaheim xD that's just the coolest name. I cracked up when I read "nunga-nungas" and had to look it up because that's a nickname I just had never heard or read before. I can't wait for you to develop these characters some more and see Eden open up about herself Gemma is hilarious and adorable. And that's about it! Can't wait to see what's next!

[Galaxy]

Ohhh my gosh, you guys I just---gahh, I'm so so flattered that you like this so much! And ohhh, the topic is classified as 'hot'! I didn't think it'd get so popular---ohoohhh, you guys are the absolute best, and I love and appreciate absolutely every one of you!

Chapter 4

My first test was two days after she had first come to my apartment, and I got a whopping B-, in comparison to the D+ I had acquired last time. Eden was just about as excited I was, and bought me a stuffed blue elephant to add to my collection as a congratulations. I tried to pay her for tutoring me, but she wouldn't take it.

"I know it sounds really after school special, but having you as a friend is enough pay," Eden told me, shifting a bit shyly with the cheesy comment and peering up at me with her sweet doe eyes. "I'm really kind of lonely, and...I dunno, I really like having you as a friend."

It was then that I realized we actually were friends, not just tutor and student anymore. And we started behaving like it, too, like that B- was a lightswitch. She came over for studying still, but we would probably get a solid twenty minutes of studying before we wound up cackling like idiots at a story the other told, or wondering what was on television or declaring we were hungry. Soon we abandoned studying all together, and she just came over for dinner (which was normally cheap Chinese takeout or greasy burgers from McDonalds) most nights and watching 80's shows. That was our thing, we only watched old shows together, and joked that we would get each other DVD box sets of The Golden Girls and Happy Days for Christmas. We would pig out and joke and just talk about anything we wanted to, and I frequently wondered if this was what it was like having a sister. An adorable, sneezy sister. Eden was still pretty insecure about her nose and all its actions, though, and over the course of a week she cried about three times because she had sneezed on me and was embarrassed. Those three times weren't the only times she had sneezed on me (believe me, I lost count. Eden didn't notice most of the time, mainly concerned with keeping more sneezes at bay), but Eden was just insecure enough as was, and sneezing on her only friend just pushed her over the edge. And I would hug her and tell her it wasn't a problem, and wondered just when she was going to be able to be entirely comfortable around me.

Eden wasn't the only one I was spending time with, though. Mark and I wound up going for that lunch date. He was funny and bright, and we never ran out of things to talk about. I'm glad he wasn't needy, though, and didn't demand a lot of my attention; he had his own life, and I had mine (even though my life wasn't much other than school and watching TV with Eden), and we worked around that when we could to grab lunch or a movie or something. II would tell Eden everything that Mark and I did, and she would sigh contently and say she wished she had someone that liked her like Mark liked me. I was going to offer to ask Mark if he had a friend that he could set Eden up with, but a shot of jealousy struck me like a slap and I refused to mention that as a possibility.

And two weeks after meeting Eden and starting to see Mark, I was pretty content with my life and my relationships. I was secure in them. And I thought Eden was, too, until the day she showed up to my place one day with her allergies going absolutely crazy.

"Bless you," I told her immediately upon answering my door, seeing her standing there with twitchy nostrils and fluttering lashes.

"IheSHIEUWW!!" she sneezed an instant later, bringing a hand to her face before sniffling and giving me a sheepish smile. "Sorry..." she told me, sniffling repeatedly as her nose started running. "Ugh, c-can I come in? Need a tissue..."

"No, you can absolutely not come in," I told her, stepping aside to let her in. Eden scrambled to the tissue box on the kitchen counter (I kind of started keeping tissue boxes everywhere, what with how Eden's surprise sneezes could leave her a drippy mess in seconds flat. I think she certainly appreciated it) and blew her nose, producing a tiny little honk that made her jump as if something surprised her. "E-Excuse me..." she said shyly, cheeks going a rosy red.

"Bless you," I told her again, about to ask what she'd like to do before seeing her thin frame trembling. I watched her give dramatic hitches, back arching with each tickly breath. "Sorry, sorry," she was trying to say through trembling lips, her words shaky with the irritation. I leaned against the counter and watched her, pretending to check an imaginary watch to maybe get her to smile. She didn't smile, though, too consumed with the itch in her sinuses. The hitching went on longer than normal, a chorus of "hah...ah-heh...heh-!...heEHH...." that made me want to laugh.

"Do you...need help?" I offered after a moment, feeling myself shift a bit shyly. It was weird feeling timid around Eden; she was the one who was always meek and insecure.

She seemed to genuinely contemplate it as her nostrils expanded, and soon nodded desperately as her thin frame shivered like she was out in the snow.

I glanced around the place for something that could be used to make her sneeze. I had given all my perfume to my neighbor, a sweet old grandmother who seemed to bathe in perfume, when I cleaned out my apartment last month. I never used it, anyway, they were just bottles that Mom had given me after she ordered them out of an Avon catalog and decided she wasn't fond of them. Let's see, no perfume...

My eyes traveled to the spice rack. Well, it would probably be filled with spices if I ever used them. There was merely a salt shaker, a pepper shaker and a container of cinnamon sugar. I wondered if the cartoons were joking when they had characters sneeze from pepper, but thought that this was as good a time as any to find out. I took the pepper and shook some into my hand before stepping before Eden. Her eyes were squeezed shut, tears streaming from the corners, and her nostrils were twitching spastically. When did this become something that was even remotely okay? I wondered to myself as I rose my hand to linger beneath Eden's nose. Trying to coax a sneeze out of this chick on a Friday evening...What happened to wanting to party in college? To getting drunk off my rocker and having all the sex in the world?

But as Eden's nostrils expanded to twice their size and trembled with the scent of the pepper, and her chest heaved and her mouth gaped open and her nose ran and twitched fiercely like a ticking time bomb, I thought about how sex and getting drunk somehow couldn't ever compete with Eden.

The force of her sneeze blew the pepper out of my hand (drenching the appendage, I might add), and it was only the first of many in a huge fit.

"IhheSHUEUUHHH!! HAEUSHEUHH!! ISHUEUHH!! IAHEUWW!! HAH--AHHEKSHEUHH!!"

I watched Eden sneeze and sneeze, and made a mental note to take less pepper next time I needed to tickle her nose. I hurried and got a wad of tissues, placing them in her hand and gingerly easing her hand over her nose, one hand rubbing her back gently. She was far too consumed with the massive sneezes to worry about covering, and while I didn't mind it, I knew Eden would be completely distraught if she came out of the fit and saw she had sneezed all over my kitchen counter (well, more than she already had).

After about a minute of continuous sneezing, Eden coughed weakly, and I helped her to sit in a kitchen chair. She kept the tissues clamped over her nose and looked weakly up to her, her soft blue eyes streaming with sneezy tears. "Gebba, cad you ged be bore tissues....?" she asked hopelessly, and I thought briefly how she was like Bambi, so weak and cute and needy.

I took another wad of tissues and gave them to Eden. She turned away to clean herself up, giving her nose at least half a dozen blows before tossing all the tissues in the wastebasket. "Oh, gosh..." she breathed shakily, sniffling into yet another tissue. "I have had...the worst day... The chemistry professor asked me to leave the class because my sneezing was a distraction ---God, I was so embarrassed, Gemma...:" she said with a whimper, burying her face in the tissue.

I sighed softly and sat next to her, hugging her close. "Ohhh, hon, I'm so sorry...People are jerks..."

"No they're not..." she sniveled, taking tissue after tissue from the box. "It's me that's a jerk...I can't ever keep this damn thing quiet," Eden said, pointing at her petite, sniffling nose. "I'm always bothering everyone around me...Even my own mom gets pissed with me..."

I remembered back to that campus tour, when Eden's mom seemed genuinely angry with her for having that sneezing fit, and looked like she was embarrassed to be seen with her. I sighed softly, heart hurting at knowing that she probably felt like her mom didn't care about her. I thought about my own mom, wondering what I would feel like if there was something about myself I couldn't control that she couldn't stand...God, the thought made me want to cry. I wouldn't ever feel comfortable in my own home.

"You can come over any time..." I told her quietly, not knowing what else to say. "I mean...if your mom's making you feel bad or anything...You know you're always welcome over, Eden, right...?"

Eden sniffled and nodded, looking up to me with teary blue eyes. She was quiet a moment before slowly smiling, hugging me back. "Thanks, Gemma...I really appreciate you being so cool...n-not minding me..."

"Hey, of course I don't mind you," I told her, hugging her tight. "Nothing to mind about you. Now, come on, I rented the new Madea movie."

Eden looked up quickly, her eyes brightening immediately. "I...I love Madea."

"I know you do," I said with a smile. "You mentioned last week that it was your guilty pleasure."

"I-I was just rambling, were you really listening...?" she asked shyly, looking down with a small smile. Eden sniffled and took a tissue to wipe her nose again before looking up to me again. "I'm...glad you like hanging out and stuff...I just...feel like I'm getting more confident...Not just with you, but anywhere..."

This completely warmed my heart, and I hugged her tight again. "Aww, Eden...I'm just glad you--" I stopped at hearing the door buzzer. "Uh, hold on," I said, standing to go and press the button on the buzzer. "Who is it?"

"Bitch, who else would it be! You haven't go friends!" came the familiar high-pitched voice of a person I talked to about every day of my life, as well as two other voices. God. It was Liv, Tana and Stephen. "Buzz us in, homo!"

I grinned and immediately did so, looking to Eden. "Hey, it's my friends from home! Do you mind if they come in?" The look of shyness and fear on her face made me frown, wishing I had waited a minute before buzzing them in. God, I knew she was uncomfortable meeting people, especially when her allergies were so bad today...

"Sounds great," she told me with a forced smile, rosy red nose giving a sudden twitch. "IhhEHSUEHH!!" she sneezed, gasping with wide eyes as her nose started running madly. She snatched a tissue and covered her nose, looking up to me with big, pleading eyes that looked like they were just trying so hard to hide fear.

But...I couldn't just turn them away. They drove two and a half hours to get here. It'd be fine, right...?

I answered the door once my old friends came in, and couldn't help squealing like a child and hugging all of them. Tana was chubby and black, her head shaved for the Locks of Love foundation she frequently donated to. Stephen, bless his soul, looked like the stereotypical gay teenager, with a vibrant blue polo and his blind hair spiked in the front with piercings all in his ears. And Liv was chunky, too, with pale skin and a dark sheet of black hair and black lipstick. All my friends were hyper and fun, and I completely lost it upon seeing them, feeling like a squealy little high school Freshman all over again.

"Oh my God, what're you guys doing here!"

"Well, we had some business in the city---"

"Bitch, don't lie, we just got lonely and had to come see you!"

"Your place looks so great!"

"Ahh, thanks, I actually just--"

"HihEHSUEUHH!!"

We all stopped jabbering and looked to Eden, a tissue covering her nose and a deep blush splashed across her cheeks.

"Ugh, God, sorry," I said with an apologetic wince, going to Eden. "Guys, this is Eden! She started tutoring me a couple weeks ago, and she's helped me so much! Eden, this is Liv, Tana and Stephen," I told her.

"I'm Liv," Stephen said, smoothing his eyebrow with a smirk, and the four of us laughed, Eden staying quiet in her shyness.

"It's nice meeting everyone," she told them with a shy smile, obviously trying hard to be sociable. "How do you guys know Gemma?"

"We met when we were like--what? Twelve?" Liv asked, cocking an eyebrow to me as if for confirmation. "Yeah, like twelve. We live in a little town, so it's not like we had tons of people vying to be our friends."

Eden nodded, about to ask something else before her nostrils flared, scrambling for a tissue before buckling into it. "IhHESHHIUEWW!! Hihshiueww!!"

"Gesundheit!" Tana chirped, and I saw her eyebrow twitching with obvious repulsion. God, I forgot that my friends were just as germaphobic as me... "Got a cold, Ellen? We can come back later if you've got a cold..."

"Um, E-Eden, actually..." she said quietly, keeping her nose well hidden behind the tissue. "No, no, it's just allergies, don't worry...Um, Gemma, I can go if you want...?"

"No, no, stay!" I insisted, wanting her to see that my friends were cool, and that she could totally make friends easy peasy. I thought it would be a great boost to her confidence if she saw that if she opened up, people would like her even with a crazy misbehaving nose. "Please? I'll make Hot Pockets and we can just hang out! Please, Eden...?"

Eden looked up to me and swallowed before nodding, giving a smile that may or may not have been forced. "A-Alright..." she said with a sniffle, going to sit next to me on the couch. Tana sat on my other side, and Liv and Stephen shoved my elephants off the loveseat to sit there. I chatted for a minute--just asking about how things were going, if there were any new flames, any good movies recently--before hopping up and going into the kitchen to make food. I heard Stephen and Eden talking, sounding like the conversation was about school, and I was glad she was opening up. I got a 2-liter of Pepsi and started pouring glasses before jumping about a foot in the air at a huge "HaeSHUEUHH!!!" and a collective gasp.

Fuck.

I hurried to peer out into the living area, seeing Stephen, Liv and Tana staring at Eden, mouths in perfect 'O' shapes, and Eden shrinking against the couch and blushing a deep, beet red. "I...I'm sorry...." she whispered brokenly, her eyes swelling with tears in an instant, and I knew she had to have accidentally sneezed on someone. She scrambled off the couch like she had a terrible disease she didn't want to infect the others with, tripping and falling flat on her bottom in her attempt to go backwards.

"Eden, sweetie, it's okay," I immediately said, going to help her up. "Guys, tell her it's okay."

"Um, skinny bitch sneezed on me, how is that okay?" Stephen asked with his eyebrows raised, upper lip pulled back as he disgustedly wiped at his arm.

Eden's eyes poured over with tears at him calling her that as well as the embarrassment of everything, and stood and hurried out the door.

Stephen sighed, about to say something but didn't get the chance before I snatched the plate of Hot Pockets from the counter and threw them at him, not trusting myself to get close to him out of fear that I'd lose it and punch his lights out. "Hey! What the hell!?"

"Why did you have to call her that!?"

His expression softened, looking to Liv and Tana as if for support. "Gem, you know I'm just kidding...I call everyone bitch, it's nothing personal..."

"She doesn't know that, you jackass!" I screamed at him, and saw all three of them staring at me like some escaped gorilla from the zoo going on a rampage. I couldn't blame them, though, I rarely ever got angry enough to yell. "And--God, she didn't fucking mean to sneeze on you, couldn't you just try to be nice about it!?"

"And just what makes her so high and mighty that she can sneeze on anyone she wants without getting bitched out?"

"No, that's that the point--- what I mean is--- ugh, see, Eden's just..." I trailed off and shook my head, running my fingers through my hair. "God, I had a hard enough time getting her the little confidence she has, and now you just dashed it down a couple hundred notches....God, I've got to find her." The three of them started to protest but I ignored them, snatching my jacket off the kitchen counter and going down the stairs to the lobby of the building. Finding Eden wasn't there, I started outside, knowing she couldn't have gone far. "Eden?" I called out into the chilly evening of early October. "Eden, come on back, please? I'm sorry, my friends can kind of be blunt..."

"HaeHHESHUEUHH!!"

I couldn't help smiling a little at hearing her. I looked around before spotting her leaned against the back of my car, sniffling and hugging around herself, shivering against the cold wind. "Eden..."

"Gemma..." she sighed, eyes sliding shut in exasperation. "...I'm sorry...I know you're going to tell me not to be...that I didn't do anything wrong...But...God, Gemma, I don't...I don't think you realize just how gross I am....I mean, are you just hanging out with me so I'll tutor you for free? You can tell me if you are," she said, last few words shaking with more tears. She shivered and hitched, buckling at the waist while still leaning against my car. "HaEHSUEUHH!!"

"Bless you..." I told her, heart hurting at her suggesting that at all. I know it wasn't personal, though, that she was just so used to people not liking her... "Here, hon," I said, putting my jacket on her shoulders. "Eden...of course that's not why I like you..." I said, hugging her close to help warm her since she clearly wasn't going to budge from this spot. "...I like you because you're funny, and friendly and really sweet...You're selfless and caring..." I told her, gently smoothing locks of dark hair from her face. "You're...you're smart, and--"

"HehHESHEUWW!!"

"You're adorable..." I said quietly, the word feeling foreign and scary on my tongue.

Eden sniffled and shivered, looking up nervously to me, her eyes and nose streaming. "R-...Really...?"

I couldn't help giggling at the sight of her dripping like a faucet, and felt in my pocket before finding a tissue pack. I plucked a clean tissue from the pack and gently tried her tears so she could stay holding herself against the wind. "Ohh, sweetie, here we go..." I said softly, folding the tissue and handing it to her to wipe her nose. Eden blushed deeply but knew I was only trying to help, sniffling softly and looking away as she wiped at her nose.

"...Please take me home, Gemma..." she told me miserably, teeth starting to chatter against the cold.

I bit my lip and sighed, glancing to my car. "...Hold on," I said, taking her hand and bringing her to sit in the passenger seat. I hopped in the driver's seat and turned the heat on immediately. I took my phone from my pocket and dialed Liv's number, sitting back and listening to the ring.

"...Hello?"

"Liv, oh my God!" I wailed, knowing that Drama class was paying off. "I'm out front and there's a kitten in the parking lot! It got hit with a car!"

"What!?"

"I'm rushing it to the vet right now. Liv, I'm sorry, I think I need to stay the night with him for emotional support," I cried, and Eden was next to me desperately trying to stifle giggles. "I'm sorry that I can't stay with you guys!"

"Oh, no, no, don't worry about it! Um, we can stay if you--"

"No, no, don't trouble yourselves. You go on and do something fun, see a movie or something. No reason to hang around waiting for me," I told her. "There's a key under the coffee maker, maybe just lock the door on your way out..?"

Liv was quiet for a moment, before I heard her clunky hoop earrings jingling with a nod. "Y-...Yeah, okay, Gemma. Sure. Steph says he's sorry about being rude to Eden, he didn't mean it..."

I glanced out the window and stayed quiet a moment. "...Look, maybe call next time you guys decide to pop by?"

"Yeah, yeah, we will...Sorry, Gem..." She gave a half-hearted goodbye before hanging up, and a few minutes later I saw her, Tana and Stephen leaving the building and getting into Tana's little black Beetle before pulling out of the complex's parking lot.

"...Your friends are kinda jerks," Eden said quietly, biting her lip and looking worriedly to me, probably scared she'd offend me.

"Yeah...yeah, they are," I sighed. I always knew that Stephen was kind of a jerk, but I had always decided to forgive it because we were such good friends. Tana and Liv were nice, but weren't really fond of people they didn't always hang out with. I knew they were sitting in Tana's car and talking about how gross Eden was, and what a bitch I was for ditching them in the first place for some stupid girl I just met. I knew this because I had been in the back seat of Tana's car plenty of times, talking about what a bitch someone else was being, and we had talked crap about people for much, much less.

I hadn't realized just how little I had with those people anymore.

"Now come on," I told Eden, offering my hand and feeling a grin twitch at my lips at seeing how happy her teary blue eyes were, and knowing that she knew I cared about her. "'Madea's Big Happy Family' awaits us."

Edited June 15, 2013 by Galaxy

[zneeze]

This part was so suspenseful, and adorable at the end! I loved it, it's great seeing Eden get more comfortable but being her same timid self. It's just awwww, this whole story is just awwww.

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

I KEEP LOVEING THIS OVER & OVER AND MORE AGAIN<3

its so cute like i just cant get over it :-l

[maddragon]

I love this series. The characters are believable an the scenarios ring true. Eden is adorable and Gemma's fascination is palpable. good work!

[snzynosey]

I love it can picture the whole thing more pleaseeee

[Klingon]

this is very good! I hope you continue to write more of this story Galaxy!

[Galaxy]

Ugh, omg, you guys are too freaking awesome.

------

“You look really hot in that dress, Gemma...”

I gave Mark a small smile, trying not to look as uncomfortable as I felt. God, couldn’t he ever call me beautiful? I mean, of course I appreciated that he was attracted to me at all, but being called ‘hot’ every time I saw him kind of felt impersonal and objectifying. I know he meant well with it and just wanted to compliment me, but seriously, why wouldn’t he be like...be like Eden?

“Gosh, Gemma, you look so beautiful in that...” Eden told me before my date with Mark as she straightened my kinky red hair, eyes wide and excited as she looked to my outfit. I had on a low cut blue dress with gold polka dots, an early birthday present from my Aunt Monica. I wasn’t exactly busty, but the way this dress was styled made me look like my cup size was at least a C, and gave off the impression that I actually had curvy hips. I tried to smile and act like she was flattering me, but it seriously made me feel good that Eden thought I was beautiful-- even more so than when Mark called me hot, honestly.

Eden got my hairspray and spritzed some on my hair, the strong scent sending her nose twitching. “IhhHESHUIUWW!!” she sneezed suddenly into her hand, giving a single sniff and about to keep on straightening my hair before smiling sheepishly. “Oh, um, sorry, let me wash my hands...”

“Eden, don’t even worry about it, germs don’t bug me,” I told her with a shrug and a smile. Well. Your germs don’t bug me.

Eden gave a small, grateful smile before rubbing at her nose with her index finger. She started back on my hair, falling quiet before asking, “Are your friends mad? That you ditched them for me?”

I sighed and shrugged honestly. Normally I couldn’t go a day without texting either Stephen, Tana or Liv, but now I wasn’t really wanting to nowadays. It had been five nights since they popped up unexpectedly, and they had tried calling me, but I wasn’t too keen on answering them. I just didn’t feel like I had anything to say to them. Steph, Tana and Liv were my high school friends, and wasn’t college all about leaving your high school life behind? They took the hint after a couple days, seeing that I clearly wasn’t going to be answering them any time soon. I thought I would feel guilty, but after Eden and I came back into the apartment that night and stuffed ourselves with Hot Pockets and cackled at Madea movies, it didn’t seem to matter.

“Nah, not really,” I said with another shrug. “I mean, I think it’s time I moved on from them. They’re kind of immature.”

“Heh, yeah...” Eden said quietly, before putting down the straightener with a smile. “There we go! Gemma, you look so beautiful!”

“Gemma, you look so hot...” Mark purred, hugging me close and planting a kiss on my temple.

I know I should have acted grateful but--God! Why couldn’t he just be like fricking Eden! “Ginger hair gives that effect,” I told Mark half-heartedly, sighing in relief once we reached the front of the line to get into the concert hall. He had tickets to Fall Out Boy and was originally going to see it with his best friend Alec, but Alec got a bad stomach bug so Mark, ever the romantic, invited me instead. I liked Mark, really, I did, but he sure wasn’t very good at wooing. He was so sweet and considerate and gentlemanly when we first went out for lunch, but once I agreed to be his girlfriend, he sort of stopped trying. Or, maybe calling me hot like I was a slab of baby back ribs on the grill was his way of trying.

I never listened to Fall Out Boy, and had originally thought they were some soft grunge emo band. They were sure emo, but definitely not soft. God, I hated loud noises. I hated screaming girls and electric guitars and beer getting spilled on me. I just wanted to be back home, snuggled up on the couch with Eden and watching The Golden Girls. I wanted to pig out on ice cream with her, and dip strawberries in it to make if feel like we were eating just a little bit healthily, and watch the cold of the ice cream make her sneeze...That sounded simply perfect to me.

I liked Mark. Really, I did. But he just...

He just wasn’t Eden.

The concert couldn’t have ended soon enough, and I left with Mark having a pounding head and ears that barely even worked, but not before stopping at the merchandise counter. Eden said she simply loved the band, so I got a black jacket with the band’s logo on it and a form fitting T-shirt for her (one that was super low cut; I mean, come on, that girl had some KILLER ta-tas, and keeping them under lock like they’re a maximum security prison is just a crime). He had a good time, and I was glad for him and held his hand on the way back to his car. We stopped beneath a street lamp so he could take me in his arms and kiss me, and I only had a brief thought about how maybe it was nice being with him after all, when my phone rang, from a number I didn’t recognize.

I barely got a ‘hello’ into the receiver before hearing Eden sobbing on the other line. “G-Gemma! Oh, God, th-thank God you answered, th-those were my l-l-last q-quarters...”

“Eden? Honey, what’s wrong?” I asked, looking up worriedly to Mark. There was the sound of a car honking, and I could tell the connection was a bit weird. “Are you by a high way...?”

“EhhHEHSHIEUWW!!” she sneezed hard into the receiver, hurting my already damaged eardrum. “Ugh, sorry, sorry, um, I-I only have a minute to talk before time runs out-- M-My mom and I had a fight and she kicked me out, a-and dropped me off here-- I-I’m on the corner of Fourth and...Fourth and...hEHHESHUIWW!! HEHSUEUHH!!”

I bit my lip worriedly, knowing she had to be on a pay phone. “Eden, Eden, sweetie, you need to tell me where you are. Try to hold them back, honey, okay?”

“Okhehh...heHESHIEUHH!! Ngh, o-hih-okay, I-I’m on Fourth- hih!-- Fourth and B-Bellev-vieeUUHHSHUEUHH!!”

“Fourth and Belleview?”

“Y-Yeah, G-G-Gemma, c-can you g-get me? Please...”

“Eden, of course I can,” I said, hurrying to Mark’s car, going faster than Mark even in my four-inch heels. I shivered in the cold October air, and knew that if I was cold, Eden was probably freezing. “Is there anywhere that’s open so you can get out of the cold?”

“HehSHIEUUHH!!”

“Eden!”

“Sorry, sorry, I-hih!- I’m t-trying! Um, n-no, I l-looked...”

“Then stay in the phone booth, kiddo, I’ll be right there.”

“A-And Gemma? Don’t--HaeEHH---” The line cut out then, and I groaned in worry.

Mark was really cool about it, and I felt bad for having to ditch him all of a sudden. He took me back to his apartment building so I could get my car, and I was glad the place was at least on the way to where Eden was. I sped to the other side of town, genuinely surprised a cop hadn’t pulled me over for going so far over the speed limit. I arrived on Belleview not a minute too soon, seeing Eden in the phone booth on the corner, bent into her hands with a huge fit of sneezes. I hurried over and tapped on the glass, making her jump and scream and losing control of the following sneeze in her fear, winding up misting the glass. She didn’t even have time to blush before bursting into tears all over again, shooting out of the phone booth and into my arms.

“God, Eden, thank God you’re okay...” I sighed in relief, holding her tight and burying my face in her hair. I know she was the one that had been in trouble, but I felt like I was the one who needed consoling. I thought she had been raped or murdered or something, out here in the middle of the night in a shady part of Albany.

“My mom hates me, Gemma, she hates me...” Eden sobbed into my dress, shaking like a leaf from the cold. She had on the same blue T-shirt that was on when she was over at my place earlier in the evening, but without the warm cardigan that went with it. Her flesh was riddled with goosebumps, and I gingerly rubbed her arms to try and warm her before remembering this would do no good in the bitter cold. I held her hand tight and started back for my car, and Eden’s rose red nose twitched with three spraying sneezes that made her sob all over again. I helped her in the passenger seat before going to my side, immediately taking her into my arms again once we were both safe and sound in my locked BMW.

“Eden, what happened...?” I asked her, going to the glove compartment and getting her tissues. She stayed shaking and crying for a moment before managing to see the tissues through the fat, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. She took the tissues and blew her nose, dried her eyes, and finally managed to look up at me.

She tried to speak but only whimpered, hugging me tight like I was the last person in the world. “We...” Eden hiccuped, still shivering fiercely. “W-We were just...a-arguing about something...a-and she decided she had enough...she kicked me out of the car and told me not to come home...S-Said she was tired of me freeloading---wh-which wasn’t even f-fair because she won’t let me get a j-job so I can focus on schoo--hooOUHESHIOO!!” she sneezed suddenly into the fabric of my dress. Eden’s face went even a deeper red than it was before, looking up to me with eyes wide and embarrassed, bottom lip starting to tremble. “Gemma, I---”

“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay,” I soothed, hugging her again and making sure the cold, wet part of my dress didn’t touch her. I stayed quiet, listening to Eden hiccup and cry, and gingerly rubbed her arms to warm her up.

“Where am I gonna go...My mom is all I have...M-My dad lives in Massachusetts, and I can’t give up my scholarship to Cranson by moving--”

“Eden, you’re staying with me...” I told her quietly, brow knit in confusion. I guess I just assumed she figured she’d stay with me. I mean, of course she’d stay with me! Who else did she have?

Eden sniffled and wiped her nose, trying to calm the hiccups before looking up at me. God, those tears streaming from her sweet, wounded eyes just killed me. “Gemma...n-no, I c-can’t...I can’t put you out like that...”

I nearly laughed at the idea, hugging her close so her head was on my shoulder. “Hey, you already practically live with me...What? Did you think I was just going to let you live on the street?”

Eden kept her gaze, sniffling and shaking still with cold, even though the heater was on high (and I was sweating balls, but I couldn’t turn the heat down and let her freeze). She was about to answer before her nostrils flared and her breath hitched dangerously, and I quickly thrust a tissue into her hand. She held it tight and buried her nose in it, body shaking even more with a small fit of sneezes. Once she was out of it she coughed weakly, sniffling repeatedly.

“But we can talk about arrangements later,” I told her, regrettingly letting her go so I could drive us home.

Eden stayed quietly throughout the car ride, aside from her sniffles and sneezes, but she didn’t seem to want to talk about what she and her mom got into an argument about. I didn’t want to pry, but I honestly couldn’t imagine anything that would get Eden in trouble. Like she said, her mom didn’t allow her to have a job, so that was a really shitty reason to get angry with her..Maybe she was failing? Pfft, no, brainiac Eden couldn’t fail. She’d probably have a panic attack of she got anything below an A. She didn’t seem like she’d be the sort to try and start trouble, either...

“Eden, what were you and your mom arguing about...?”

She looked away from staring out the window, and it hurt my heart seeing even more, fresh tears on her cheeks. Eden blinked at me a moment before glancing away, like she had something to be ashamed of. “Just...my mom’s really...old fashioned...I thought I could talk about something that was bothering me, but...I guess not...”

I frowned worriedly and looked back to her. “Eden...you know you can talk to me, right?” I smiled softly and offered my hand to her.

Eden looked to my hand a moment, giving it a squeeze and looking up to me with a sad smile, new tears welling in her eyes and sliding down her face. “...I know I can, Gemma, just...Just not this, okay...?”

I was absolutely dying of curiosity at this point, but I didn’t want to push her. So I just nodded and squeezed her hand, listening to her sniffle all the way home. When I pulled up to the apartment building, I realized that she was still furiously freezing. I reached in the back seat and got the jacket I bought her at the concert. “Here, put this on...”

Eden sniffled and started to put on the jacket, looking to the design with a soft, sad smile. “This is cool...”

“I got it for you,” I told her, reaching back to get the shirt. “This, too...”

Eden blinked at me and to the clothes, her eyes swelling with tears all over again. I was about to ask what was wrong before she hugged my tight, sobbing into my shoulder. “Why can’t my mom love me like you do, Gemma...”

I blinked at hearing this and hugged her close. “...I do, Eden. I do love you...” I told her quietly, eyes sliding shut. I never really thought about it. I had always been one of those people that thought love was strictly for lovers and family but...Even though it hadn’t been long, Eden felt like family. And hell, we acted like we were dating anyway, since we spent all our time together.

This thought send a strange feeling through my gut. Dating...Eden. What if I was dating Eden?

Don’t be fucking weird, Gemma...I scolded myself silently, keeping her close in my grasp.

“EhHHEHSUHEUHH!!” she sneezed suddenly, drenching the front of my dress with the sneeze as well as all her tears. Eden groaned as her nose dripped like a faucet, reaching for a tissue and wiping her nose. She noticed the mess she’d left on my dress and blushed a deep red, getting a tissue to wipe at my dress. “I-I’m sorry, Gem, I--”

“Eden...” I said in a fake scolding tone, giving her a warm smile.

Eden looked up at me and realized I didn’t want to hear an apology, sniffling and looking down shyly. She was clearly trying to think of something to say that wasn’t an apology, and the way her eyes suddenly got misty, I knew that she was having a shitty enough night as it was.

“Come on, hon, let’s get you inside,” I said gingerly, getting out of the car with her and going into the building. Once in my apartment she sighed in comfort at the warmth of the place. Eden went in the bathroom to bathe (after she asked me about three times if I was sure it was okay if she showered), and upon feeling her clothes feeling ice cold, I got a warm pajama shirt, bottoms and socks for her to put on and set them on the sink the bathroom. I paused and stood in the bathroom, watching the curtain and seeing the shadow of her body as she bathed. Eden was singing softly to herself, in a voice that was too lovely to be real.

“If I didn’t know you, I’d rather not know...” she sang in a gentle, sweet voice that could have easily lulled me to sleep. “If I couldn’t have you, I’d rather be alone...”

God. I loved this song.

“I never knew, just what it was...”

“About this old coffee shop I love so much...” I found myself singing quietly, immediately cringing at the sound of my voice. I had always thought I was a decent singer, but I sounded like a dying frog in comparison to Eden.

“All of the while, I never kneeew...” Eden kept singing, not having had heard me over the roar of the shower. I was about to leave her alone before seeing her body freezing beneath the stream of water. Eden was standing in profile, and I could clearly see the outline of her ample chest, starting to heave with a building sneeze. “Hih...hihhehh...” she hitched, a hand reaching up to linger before her face.

God...I thought in a daze, unable to take my eyes away from the shadow of her arching back, her trembling chest....

“HeHHEHSHUEHH!! HISHIUWW!! HIHHEHSHUIHH!!” she sneezed fiercely, snapping at the waist. Het wet hair whipped forward with the force, and I was scared she would slip in the shower with how strong the sneezes were.

“Bless you...” I told her by habit, still in a hazy, thick daze, and Eden jumped and nearly fell. God, I’d be surprised too if I thought I was alone and suddenly heard a random voice. “Auh, sorry! Sorry, I was just bringing you a change of clothes...” I said quickly, snapping myself out of the trance-like state I had only been in moments ago.

Eden sighed shakily and nodded. “Oh, thanks, Gemma...W-Will they fit?”

“Might be a little snug,” I said honestly with a shrug. Eden and I were about the same size, but I was built like a twig and she had more meat on her bones. And she had a LOT of more meat on her chest.

“Okay, thanks. Hey, um, sorry, but can you maybe shut the door? There...hehhh...there’s a dra-hahhhft...”

I looked quickly to the floor so I wouldn’t be entranced by the sight of her again, and hurried out the door, shutting it closed behind me.

“HihHEHSUIUWW!!” she rang out from the bathroom.

I stood there for a while, leaned against the shower door in thought. I thought about Eden, in the shower with hot water sliding down her body...

“Don’t be fucking weird, Gemma...” I grumbled to myself again, going to the kitchen so I could get her a warm cup of cocoa. She came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, shoulder-length black hair frizzy after having been dried. She had on the pajamas I gave her, and I nearly laughed out loud at seeing that the pajama shirt fit like a glove--except at her chest, where she had buttoned it up as far as it would allow, and the top button still looked like it was about to give at any moment. “I made you hot chocolate,” I told her, placing her mug at on the kitchen table and taking a seat, sipping at my own mug.

Eden sat across from me with a quiet “thank you”, sipping her hot chocolate silently. She sniffled and looked up at me after downing the whole mug in what looked like a single gulp, her eyes still wounded and misty. “Um...th-thanks, Gemma..f-for the hot cocoa, you know, and...for coming to get me, for...” She trailed off, her long lashes fluttering. Eden held up a pausing finger and quickly waved her hand before her face desperately, as if this would stop the tickle. “Hih...hihhEHHH...”

I tried to not look at her chest. Really, I did. But I couldn’t help but let my eyes wander there, and I saw the top button of the pajama shirt trembling along with the rest of her.

“...Ede--”

“HihHEHUSHUUHHH!!” she gave a huge sneeze, knees coming up with the force and banging the kitchen table hard, splashing out some of the cocoa from my mug. I didn’t notice, though, a bit too distracted with that top button popping off and nailing me square in the forehead.

Eden immediately brought a hand to her face, eyes wide in shock and embarrassment. “Gemma!! Gemma, I---”

She was interrupted by me bursting into laughter. I looked to the button, it having fallen in my mug of cocoa, and then I looked at her cleavage, smooth and exposed and blemish free like a baby’s bottom, and this all made me laugh harder. I didn’t see Eden’s reaction, too consumed with trying to control myself. God, I had to stop, I hated it when I laughed too hard, it made me--

I snorted, blushing deep red and trying to stop, but all I could do was laugh and snort like a pig with a funny bone. The only thing that got me to stop was my lungs doing me a solid and deciding to act up. I had had asthma since I was a kid, but hadn’t had an actual attack since about age ten. I’m glad mom made me promise to keep my rescue inhaler on top of the microwave, and I was about to stand up and get it when I saw Eden holding it out, her brow set with worry. I snatched it, barely managing to croak out a thanks and took in three big puffs of the inhaler. I breathed hard for a moment, chest feeling tight and constricted---

Probably how Eden felt in that top.

And this got me laughing all over again. I did wind up stopping, but it was after a minute or two. I managed to get my laughing down to a small giggle, not knowing why the hell this was so funny. I looked up to Eden through teary eyes and watched her giggling at me as well.

“Your laugh...Is certainly unique, ” she told me with another sweet giggle.

I blushed beet red, remembering how I was snorting like an idiot. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t...”

“No, no, you’re so cute...” she insisted, scooting her chair over to give me a hug, still giggling. “It’s not fair how you can still stay so beautiful even when you’re snorting with laughter! Haha...”

There it was. That B word again.

“Heh...Not fair how you can stay so beautiful when you’re all sneezy,” I said with a giggle myself, hugging her back. See, I was content with this. I didn’t need to be out at some loud concert to have fun. I just liked being here, having a laugh with Eden, feeling her arms around me...

After we got all the giggles out of us, Eden said she was tired and asked if she could go to bed. I said of course, and it was about time I hit the hay as well. She was about to go curl up on the couch but I valiantly dragged her to the bed (“Gemma! No, I mean it, I don’t want to bother you!”) and soon enough she agreed to sleep with me. She was still shivering and her nose was still runny, so I got a box of tissues and put it right by her side of the bed, and I took two quilts from the closet and tucked her in. Eden was a bit embarrassed at me tucking her in but sniffled and snuggled into the covers comfortably, smiling warmly up to me. “Thank you, Gem...” she said quietly, voice going a bit hoarse.

I slid beneath the covers with her, but has to snap right back up to get her a tissue when I saw her wet nostrils starting to flare. She buckled into the tissue with three of her girly sneezes, sniffling thickly afterward and rubbing at her tired eyes.

“I think you’ve got a little cold, hon...” I said with a teasing, but affectionate smile, sliding my arms around her to help warm her up. Eden blushed further at this but sighed contently, snuggling up close in my grasp.

“No, I’m okay...I just got over a cold...Shouldn’t be catching one again...” she said, eyes sliding shut. “...Thank you, Gemma...You’re way too kind to me...” She was out in an instant, giving a congested purr of a snore.

It took me a while to fall asleep. I watched Eden sleep contently, watched her chest rise and fall with even breaths. She was snuggled up in my chest, her nose continuously running, and I did my best to keep up with giving it ginger wipes with a tissue, not having the heart to wake her.

She sneezed a lot, and I had no idea that a person could even sneeze in their sleep. It would started out with a quick inhale from her, and I didn’t even have a moment to snatch a tissue for her before she would sneeze all over my pajama shirt and flesh. I didn’t care, though. I couldn’t ever care with Eden. I don’t know how, but her germs didn’t seem to be an issue. Her germs were Eden’s germs, so they were perfect.

Eden was perfect.

Against my better judgement, I planted a kiss on her soft, dark hair, wondering what it would be like to do this every night. To have someone to take care of, someone to call me beautiful, to say my gross piggy snort of a laugh was cute, to think I was worth something...

I was out like a light, arms wrapped around Eden and feeling warm and safe as the cold wind blew outside.

Edited June 17, 2013 by Galaxy

[zneeze]

Eden "simply loved" Fall Out Boy and she let Gemma go to their concert wearing a dress and heels?!

But seriously, this is freaking gahhhh I just can't finish a sentence. Adorable, it's beyond adorable at this point and their true feelings are still secret. I'd want Eden all to myself if she didn't have Gemma, and if she also weren't a fictional character. Gemma and Eden are one of my favorite fictional couples of all time, gay, straight, alien, you name it

[Galaxy]

Eden "simply loved" Fall Out Boy and she let Gemma go to their concert wearing a dress and heels?!

Pfft, Eden's poor, yo, she doesn't go to concerts, she doesn't know what's up

Edited June 17, 2013 by Galaxy

[a-tissue]

This story is perfect. <3 Thank you.

[hails]

GAH YOU'RE JUST TOO PERFECT. I can't even describe how amazing absolutely freaking everything is.

[maddragon]

Adorable, charming, sweet, and of course wonderful.

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

Cute:D

[maddragon]

If anyone is a fan of The Killing on AMC, I was just rereading this and in my head Gemma's friend Stephen sound like Holder.

[HappyDays]

Aw poor Eden! I love this so much, it's so cute and fluffy!

[zneeze]

Eden "simply loved" Fall Out Boy and she let Gemma go to their concert wearing a dress and heels?!

Pfft, Eden's poor, yo, she doesn't go to concerts, she doesn't know what's up

Very true! I forgot to say this in my comment, but I also loved the short role reversal, Eden paying Gemma back in a small way with handing her the inhaler, Gemma embarrassed of her laugh the way Eden is of her sneeze...honestly so perfectly done.

[Chiguy]

Outstanding!

Love the structure ... you should be writing for more than just this board.